It seemed like the obvious move for the Giants as soon as they won Super Bowl XLVI over the Patriots and completed yet another memorable postseason run. They had little choice but to lock up Tom Coughlin for a contract extension.

While he was not a legacy owner the way that George Halas was with the Chicago Bears in the NFL, no American sports owner was more identified with his team than Steinbrenner was with the Yankees. He made the team his priority.